Jackson came home from school, excited. Lola had agreed to be his date for the middle school dance. Stephanie was going to be playing at the dance. Even Ramona was excited .

AT THE DANCE
Jackson, Lola, and Ramona were mingling. Jackson and Lola danced a little. He saw her talking to Ramona and went to get some punch. A few minutes later, Lola was not in the room. Jackson went up to Ramona. "Where’s Lola?" "She went out to the hall. I think she needed to use the girls room." "Oh."

Jackson went to the hallway and saw Lola being pressured by three boys, including Bobby. They were drinking and smoking. Lola was crying and had a beer in her hand. Jackson said "Give me that!" Taking the beer from Lola. He couldn’t believe he ever thought Bobby was a friend. His mom was right. Bobby was trouble. Jackson made the other boys run off. Ramona came into the hallway assuming the worse. Lola wanted to go home. She went to call her mom. Then, Stephanie came into the hallway. Jackson was still holding the can of beer."Jackson, what the--. We are going home, right now!" "Aunt Stephanie! This isn't what it looks like." "It looks like you are holding a beer. Give me that!"

As soon as they entered the house, Ramona ran to her room. "DJ!" Stephanie yelled. DJ entered the living room. "Steph, what is it?" "I caught Jackson with a beer at the dance." "I wasn't drinking, Mom. Why explain? You won't believe me, anyway." He ran to his room. DJ went to talk to Jackson. "Honey, why don't you tell me what happened?"Jackson remained silent. "I know how you feel. I went to a seventh grade dance with this boy, Kevin. I caught him and two other boys drinking in the hall. I tried to stop them. Uncle Jesse caught me with a can of beer. I tried explaining what happened, but he didn’t believe me. Neither did Dad or Joey. I went back to the school to prove my innocence. Kevin and the other two boys got expelled. But, he did tell Dad and Uncle Jesse the truth. They apologized for not believing me." Jackson still wouldn't talk to her. "I'll be downstairs and ready to listen when you want to talk."

Lola came over."Are you okay? I could kill Jackson for hurting you." "Ramona, Jackson didn't hurt me. He probably saved my life. Is his mom home?" "Yes. DJ!" "What is it?" "Lola wants to speak with you." "Mrs. Fuller, Jackson saved me tonight. I was on my way to the girls room, and the boys in the hall were drinking and smoking. They tried to pressure me into joining them. They probably would have succeeded if Jackson hadn’t shown up when he did. He took the beer from me. I guess he hadn’t set it down, before getting caught with it." "Thank you for telling me what happened, Lola."

Ramona went to Jackson's room. "I want to apologize to you for assuming the worse. Lola was here. She told your mom what happened." "I don't blame anyone for assuming the worse. But I am glad my mom was at least, willing to listen. I was afraid she still wouldn't believe me, so I said nothing. Even after she told me that it happened to her, too." "Well, now she knows. She probably would have, believed you, since she went through it, too." "I know. I need to trust that more."

The next day he called Lola. He just needed reassurance that everything was okay between them. Then, he went downstairs to talk to his mom. Jackson decided to trust that he really could tell her anything. Even Aunt Stephanie had apologized for assuming the worse. Jackson knew everything would be okay.